Guardian chp 1
by Metrowolf
Summary: AU in which Dean is the younger brother and they've just moved into a new house. Destiel I do not own any of the character.
1. Chapter 1

Dean Winchester was upset by a lot of things. His dad had just lost his job as a mechanic and now they had to move to a completely new state, which meant a new school and new friends, and for his older brother Sam, a new girlfriend. Sam was nine years older than Dean, but even though he was only sixteen he was already quite the charmer. He had to leave behind the girl, Ruby, he had been dating for over a month, and Sam wasn't all to happy about it. He took out his frustration on his younger brother, and John was to busy to mediate most of the time. Dean was upset by the fact that in this new city in Florida it rained all the time, and was always hot and muggy when he wanted to go out and play. They had only got to the new house a few days ago, but he could already tell he was going to hate it.

The thing that had upset Dean the most though, was the fact that he had seen a ghost on there first day and no one would believe him.

It was a Thursday when they first moved in, and it was raining cats and dogs, as if Florida was trying to welcome them to their new home. Dean had been lifting some of the smaller boxes out of the moving van with Sam and their dad all morning. Their furniture had been all moved in the day before by the moving company. While he was bringing a box of plates and cups in their was a bright flash of lightening. Dean glanced up, and in the flash he saw the silhouette of a small boy in the second floor window.

The box dropped to the ground with a splash, as Dean watched the window with wide eyes. Seconds ticked away before the roll of thunder and finally, a second flash. The figure was gone. Without bothering to pick the box back up Dean dashed into the house and pushed past his brother and up the stairs. He slammed open the door and found-

Nothing. The room was completely empty. Dean let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. What was he thinking anyway? He was the only little boy who lived here, and there was no way he could have made the shadow. Dean tapped his fist on his palm. It was a ghost. That was the only explanation.

He ran back down stairs to where Sam was waiting for an apology, but Dean ignored him and ran to their father. He started babbling incoherently, but Sam and John made out the word ghost and reluctantly followed him upstairs. Again there was nothing in the room, and John told his youngest son to not worry about ghosts and get back to unloading boxes. Dean went back outside and picked up the thoroughly saturated box. While he was walking he glanced back up at the window, but the little boy was no where to be seen.

Over the next few days Dean was convinced that their new house was haunted. Once, while he was in his room unloading boxes, one of them toppled over and nearly crushed him. Fortunately he tumbled out of the way just in time, but when he turned to yell at his brother for knocking the box over, he realized Sam wasn't even in the room. The next night he was woken in his sleep because he could hear voices in the hallway. He rolled over, thinking Sam and his dad were having another fight when his door creaked open and the voices grew louder. Dean sat bolt upright. Those voices weren't his family's. He glanced around, but there was no one in his room. He slipped out of his bed, but as soon as his feet touched the floor the voices stopped and he couldn't find them again for the rest of the night.

Still, his father wouldn't believe him that there were ghosts in the house. John told Dean that it was new house and that could be scary, but they would get used to it and there was nothing to worry about.

"You sure have a lot to worry about." The girl who lived down the street said when Dean asked her about his house. They were sitting together on the swings, in the park between their houses. Dean had gone there a few times and met Megara. She was a few years older than him, and seemed to know an awful lot about the house he had moved into. It seemed like the neighborhood liked to gossip about the house, and her parents told her everything they heard about it."That place is scary."

Dean didn't think that the house it's self was to bad. It looked like any other house, with two stories, green shutters, and a nice little lawn out front. Nothing at all about the house indicated it was scary or haunted.

"Did something happen there? What happened to the last owners?" Dean asked her. Meg just snorted at him.

"Not the last owners. Or the people before that, or before that." She waved her hand impatiently. "No one ever lives there for longer than a few months. I've seen two families move in already, and it's only April!" She laughed.

"So it's cursed?" Dean asked her.

Meg laughed again. " Of course it is! The owners all get scared or hurt and end up having to leave. Have you seen anything yet? I've heard it all."

"I heard some voices, and one of the boxes fell over." Dean explained, scratching his chin. "oh, and on the first day I saw a little boy in the window."

"A little boy?" Meg asked, for the first time since Dean met her she wasn't smirking. "All I ever hear about is a man and a woman haunting the place, but there's no little boy there."

They swung in silence for a few moments, while Dean imagined the figure he had seen on their first day. It had to have been a kid for sure, maybe even someone his age. Still, Meg seemed sure that there was no child's ghost in the house. Dean suddenly felt angry that no one bothered to tell his dad the house was haunted.

Suddenly Dean had a thought. "What if I break the curse?" He asked, turning toward Meg. "You know? Vanquish the ghost or whatever so we can stay here!"

She frowned at him. "Can you do that? You're just a kid!"

"As of now, I'm a ghost buster!" Dean cried, standing up.

"As of now you are absolutely crazy!" Meg shouted back, and she too stood up. "I thought you were just going to be moving in a month, I thought you didn't even like it here."

"Well I don't." Dean replied, slightly taken aback. "But my dad does. You don't want to help me get rid of the ghosts?"

"Of course not!" Meg said, and turned on her heel to leave. "The ghosts that live there are dangerous!" She shouted over her shoulder and ran off.

Dean kicked his legs back and forth, swinging higher and higher. If what Meg had told him was right, they had just under two months before the ghosts started to get violent. His dad and brother would be forced to believe him then, but he'd rather protect his family than be able to say 'I told you so' and have to move again. Dean wondered if they would get angry if he tried to remove them. He let out a sigh. There was really only one thing he could do at this point, and that was asking Sam for help.


	2. Guardian chapter 2

"The house is haunted Sam." Dean frowned, as the two brothers ate their lunch the next day. It had taken Dean a whole day to work up the nerve to ask his brother for help. They relied on each other all the time since they had lost their mom, but it was still hard for Dean to admit he needed someone.

"Who told you that?" Sam asked reasonably, sipping on his pink lemon aid. Sixteen years old and that stuff was still good.

Their dad was not home, instead he was across town with the impala doing a job interview. They wouldn't start school until the next week, and were stuck at home until then. While John was out they tended to ignore each other as much as possible, only talking when one of them, usually Dean, made lunch. Today he had made macaroni and cheese. It was his favorite because of how easy it was to make. Boil water, put it in, add cheese sauce.

"Meg." Dean muttered. He stirred at his macaroni absentmindedly.

"That little rude girl from down the street?" Sam laughed. "I met her yesterday and she tried to tell me the same thing. Don't tell me you fell for it!"

"I didn't fall for anything!" Dean shouted, suddenly defensive. "There are ghosts! I've heard them!"

Sam was quite for a moment as he took another bite of macaroni. He swallowed and looked up at his brother with a frown. "I think I've heard them too. I just thought it was dad talking to you or something, but now that you mention it the voices were a bit low for you."

"I'm still young." Dean stuck his tongue out, before realizing what exactly his brother had just said. He believed him. "but is that all? You've only heard voices, no boxes trying to crush you or anything?" Dean asked quickly.

"Nope." Sam said, twirling his fork. "Why, did that happen to you?"

"Only once." Dean replied nonchalantly. "No biggie. But I was thinking, well, what if we tried to get rid of the ghosts?"

Sam spit out the lemon aid he had just taken a sip of. "You want us to what?" He gasped. "To be like exorcists or something? Are you out of your freakin mind?"

"Meg said that everyone who lives here moves out really fast. That we have less than two months before something bad happens, and I don't want dad to go through something like that again. So I thought we could stop it." Dean frowned.

"Do you have any sort of plan?" Sam questioned, wiping the drink he had spit everywhere off the table. The younger brother smiled sheepishly. "No, I didn't think so." Sam snorted, running his hand through his hair. "Look, what we have to do is a little research."

"Research?" Dean groaned. "I don't go back to school for another few days don't make me do any work!"

Sam snorted again. "Yeah it's a good thing you have me little brother, or you and dad would be in a whole mess of trouble."

Thirty minutes later the boys were at the library a few blocks down. Dean had no idea it was there, but of course Sam went and found it the first thing when they moved in. He really did love his books. Sam had given his little brother a few books on ghosts to read, while he himself had gotten on the computer.

After ten minutes of reading the same few pages over and over again, Sam walked back to him with a grim expression on his face. "Just got a hit on the computer. Looks like back in 1995 a married couple murdered in, get this, 413 Oakleaf way."

"Our house." Dean agreed, shutting his book. He didn't understand most of it, but he got that iron was a good weapon on most supernatural beings. "But was it just the married couple?"

"Well, two people have died in the house since then, but that was one heart attack and one crazy old cat lady who died of old age in her sleep. Whatever little boy you saw, he didn't die in our house." Sam sighed. "What did you find out?"

"Uh, iron." Dean replied, holding up the book. "They hate it. But I think you should cheek the book out and make sure I didn't miss anything."

"Did you even read it at all?" Sam growled at him, before snatching the book up and taking it to the front counter.

They walked home slowly, Dean watching the houses while Sam read the book. Neither of them noticed that something was very wrong until they stepped in the front door.

"Do get the feeling we're being watched?" Sam asked as he tossed the book onto the chair next to the front door. "It's like-" He froze.

"Like what?" Dean asked. Then he caught his brother's gaze and turned around. A man in a bloody suit stood behind him. His skin was a pale blue color, his eyes bone white. the ghost took a slow step forward, his arms outstretched. Dean felt like he was frozen to the spot, until he heard a slight tinkling noise. Dean looked up and saw that the chandelier was loosing it's grip on the ceiling, right above where he was standing. He felt a hand on his shoulder and was shoved roughly forward.

"Dean!" Sam cried in fear. There was a loud crash as the glass fixture fell to the floor. Sam looked up, searching for any sign his brother was ok. He locked eyes with the ghost, before there was a static noise before the phantom vanished.

"Sam?" Dean asked. He stood up straight so that his brother could see him over the broken chandelier. "Did you push me out of the way?"

Sam shook his head, to shocked to speak. "Then who did?"

"That would be me." A third voice spoke up. Dean and Sam both turned to look at the new comer. Dean was right, he was nothing more than a boy. He had short black hair, and was wearing a tan trench coat that was maybe just a bit big on him.

"Who are you?" Dean gasped.

"What are you?" Sam asked, stepping forward over the broken glass.

"My name is Castiel." The boy said in an apathetic tone. "I'm a guardian angle in training."


	3. Guardian Chapter 3

"I'm sorry." Sam scoffed. "But you said you were a what?"

"I'm an angel." Castiel replied. He stared at the two boy before him, before he suddenly fell to his knees.

"Cas!" Dean yelped in surprise and dashed forward. He leaned down and propped the second boy up in his arms. "Are you ok? What happened, can angels get sick?"

"Woah Dean, give him a second to breath." Sam reasoned. "Stop asking so many questions."

The trainee stood up with Dean's help and put his hand to his temple. "I'm fine. I'm only a apprentice guardian angel, I can't vanquish ghosts completely without feeling a little faint afterward." He managed a small smile. "First time meeting you and you've already knocked me off my feet."

"Me?" Dean asked standing back. "Why do you need to meet me?"

Sam looked slightly put off that he had been thrown from the conversation, but Castiel ignored him. "That's because guardian angels are assigned to charges and you're mine. Must I say that you normally never see your angel, but since I'm new and you managed to get yourself in the worst possible situation I had to force my hand."

"So you're kinda like the Charlie to my David?" Dean smiled.

Castiel stared at him blankly. "Who?"

"You know, All Dogs go to Heaven? No?" Dean frowned. "That's fine, you're an angel I guess you don't have to get the reference. So it must have been you I saw on our first day here. Wait, but if you're an angel where are your wings?"

"I'm an angel in training." Castiel said the word slowly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and Dean was an idiot for not getting it. "I don't get my wings until I'm a full fledged guardian angel! It takes years of training, and I'm only seven."

"What does training entail?" Sam asked him.

"Well, it means getting a charge, for me that's Dean, and watching over them. Mostly the new kids get easy cases, but it looks like someone upstairs messed up my order." Casteil replied crossly. "Look at you! Same age as me and you move into the home of a hostile set of ghosts."

"Can you just get rid of them?" Dean asked hopefully.

Castiel shook his head. "They don't teach us what to do about ghosts until we're ten, and the harder stuff comes after that."

"Harder stuff? There's more than ghosts out there?" Sam moaned.

"I could hold them back for a while, but you would only have a few days, and I would be really weak after that. So if you didn't get rid of them by time I got to weak, then they'd be spiteful and would kill both of you immediately." Castiel continued, ignoring Sam's comment completely.

"No pressure or anything." Dean muttered.

"I think we could do it." Sam said excitedly, making his brother turn on him. "We have the book, right? Well I'm sure with a few days we could find a way to get rid of the ghosts permanently."

Dean pressed his hands to his temple. Two weeks ago he was worried about having to move to a new state, now he had to deal with ghosts and angels and it was all a bit much for him. Despite that, something about this whole mess felt … natural. Like he was born for ghost hunting, or at the very least, adventure. And even further down he knew that he just wanted make his dad proud, and keep him safe. Castiel and Sam were staring at him with perplexed faces.

"Ok, ghost busting. How do we do it?" Dean asked.

Sam looked around them. "I think we should clean up this mess first, or we won't have to worry about the ghosts, cus dad will kill us for sure."

The next morning the boys got up early to talk about the book. When John came down to get ready for his next interview, he was completely surprised to find them whispering to each other over a bowl of cheerios.

"What are you boys up to?" John asked, pouring himself a bowl.

"What makes you so sure we're up to something?" Sam asked, taking another bite.

"Because you two are getting along." John said suspiciously. Dean looked up and smiled, sending a few half eaten bits of cheerios falling to the table. Both of the older boys cringed. "On second thought, I don't really want to know. You boys have fun. Lunch and dinner are in the fridge, keep working on unpacking the living room, and I'll be home by eight." He said as he kissed both on the top of the head and waved goodbye.

Dean shrugged, while Sam scratched his head furiously, trying to get rid of the kiss. They watched from the second story window, Dean's room, as their dad drove off. Then Sam ran off to his room to get the book while Dean walked over to his bed where Castiel was asleep.

Castiel had agreed to keep up the protection he put over the house, but it took almost all of his concentration. He couldn't make himself disappear anymore, he couldn't do any of his other angelic tricks, he didn't even want to risk talking to them. Dean had allowed him to stay in his room to keep their dad from finding out, and so far it seemed to have worked.

After a minute Sam returned with the book in his hands, already cracked open to the page about exorcisms. They had stayed up late the night before reading the book , but after an hour they realized that the strange symbols at the bottom were not in fact decorations, but a foreign language they needed to translate. Angry and tired, they called it a night and went to sleep, Dean making a fort on his floor so he didn't disturb Castiel.

They took turns looking at the symbols blankly before giving up after half an hour. "There's no point!" Dean said in frustration. "We checked online, there's nothing that even remotely looks like this gibberish, forget translating it! Maybe we should ask Cas."

"Wake him up and let the ghosts in?" Sam snorted. "If we can't get it by sundown tomorrow then we'll do that as a last resort."

"Why tomorrow?" Dean asked, shaking the book by it's spine out of spite.

"Because we start school the next day, and I will to busy with the new girlfriend I'm going to get to deal with this mess." Sam nodded.

Dean rolled his eyes and threw the book to his brother. "And you think that having a girlfriend is more important than protecting the family?"

"Of course not, but you know the crazies always seek me out before the end of the day and I'm to much of a nice guy to turn them down." Sam frowned in reply, catching the book with one hand. "Besides, all we have to do is crack this code and we'll know what to do."

"Well it means nothing to me, so what can I do while you read?" Dean asked, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

"Oh, go get some salt. As much as we have. The book says to line your room with it and that will keep ghosts out. I'll try some new languages on the computer in dad's room." Sam shrugged, standing up from his position on the floor and marching out of the room.

While the door slammed behind him, Dean stared at the sleeping angel on his bed. He had known the kid for two days and already felt like he could trust him completely. It was a strange feeling. Since their mom had died in a house fire, Dean hadn't got close to anyone. It was a comfort to know that now he had someone, someone who was there specifically to help him. Dean wasn't sure he wanted the angel to help him fight the ghosts. He just wanted a friend.


	4. Chapter 4

It was a beautiful Sunday morning. The sun was shining, there wasn't a single cloud in the sky, and Bobby Singer was running for his life. The demon he had been hunting had got the drop on him, but only managed to disarm him before Bobby fled the hotel he was staying at. He stumbled madly through the trees, clutching at the wound on his shoulder. The shirt was torn, little plaid strips of string were littering the ground behind him as he ran. Bobby was furious. This was his favorite shirt.

"Come out and play hunter!" The demon called in a high pitched voice. It was residing in the body of a middle aged woman.

The voice gave Bobby an idea. He let go of the wound, allowing the blood to trickle down his arm and over his fingers. Gathering as much of it as he could on his finger tips he ran toward the nearest flat rock and started to draw. Once his trap was laid he shredded a nearby bush, sprinkling the leaves over it in an attempt to cover it up.

"You can't run forever!" The voice was much closer now. Bobby groaned and tried to wrap his arm back up, leaning against a nearby tree for support. "Found you!"

The demon appeared behind him, her face twisted with glee. Bobby let out a surprised yelp, and took a step backwards, purposely tripping over the rock. He landed with a grunt and tried to back up, so the demon would step onto the trap.

"You hunters are so cute." The she demon growled, taking a step forward. _Come on, one more_ Bobby thought. "With your little guns. Did you think you could kill me?" She raged, and then stepped onto the rock.

"Yep." Said Bobby triumphantly, getting to his feet. The demon raised her host's eyebrow and tried to take another step forward. Suddenly she found her self trapped. "You think you're so special, but all you demons are exactly the same. Stupid."

"What did you-" The demon gasped as Bobby started the exorcism chant. She started to scream and writhe and threw her head back as a cloud of black smoke escaped into the sky. Bobby jumped forward and caught the woman from falling as she went limp. His arm hurt to much to carry her, but they were in a public park, she would know where she was when she awoke.

Bobby firmly tied a wrap around his arm once he was at the car and had his medical supplies. He tossed the shot gun he had retrieved into the trunk with a snort. He had been kinda stupid to bring that one on this particular hunt. Bobby was just glad that he could head on to the next town now that- he sighed. There was a second job here, some small haunting he had promised to look into.

Bobby stared at his dwindling supply of rock salt. He almost wanted to close his truck and call it a day. If his friend was right they were violent, but not deadly ghosts. A real easy job. Bobby wanted to call someone else in, to leave Florida but he knew it would be pointless. Some new family had just moved in, and waiting for someone else could hurt them.

"Welp." He sighed. "Looks like I have one more hunt to do." And he closed the trunk.

There was a loud knock at the door. "I'll get it!" Dean shouted. Sam was upstairs on the computer, and Castiel was still asleep. Tonight they would wake him and try to deal with the problem on their own. Sam had gathered a few iron things they could use as weapons, and had lined the bedrooms with salt.

A tall man in a tan jumpsuit was waiting for him at the door. Dean had never seen a suit like that before, but it had a picture of a dead ant and a brand name on it, so it wasn't hard to figure out what the man was there for. "Hello, is your mom or dad home?" The man asked.

"No." Dean replied without even thinking.

The man awkwardly lifted a scanner in his hand. "Well I'm supposed to check the house for bugs today. Is it alright if I come in?"

"I guess." Dean leaned back, swinging the door out wide. He racked his brain, trying to remember if their dad had mentioned anything about an exterminator coming today. Dean was just coming to the conclusion that no one was supposed to come over that day when the scanner started to beep. The exterminator looked down at it with a frown and held it up.

"Bugs?" Dean asked suspiciously.

The man followed the beeping upstairs. "Yeah something like that." He muttered.

"Dean?" Sam called from his room. "Is someone here?" He stepped into the hall and froze. A small bit of salt trailed behind him. The man looked down at the white powder and then up at Sam.

"So, you two are hunting the ghosts too?" He asked, leaning back on his heels and putting the scanner away. The brothers looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

Finally Sam spoke up. "So what if we are? Are you going to help us?" He asked, leaning against the door. "Who are you anyway?"

"My name's Bobby. I'm a hunter." The man said. "But it looks like you two have already done a bit of the work. Salt won't work well if you keep walking in and out of the room. You're messing up the line and it won't keep nothing out if it has breaks in it. How have you boys kept the ghosts at bay with shotty workmanship like that?"

"We have-" Dane started, before his brother gave him a look. "Good luck." Dean finished quickly.

"I guess so" Bobby agreed "Have you done any research at all? Do you know how to get rid of the ghosts?"

"Well, we read that you can burn the bodies, but when I went to see where they were buried I found that the couple had been cremated." Sam frowned. "Is there another way to get rid of them?"

"There must be something." Bobby "And we need to search the whole house to find it."


	5. Chapter 5

"So what exactly are we looking for again?" Sam asked as he pulled an old painting from the wall. He figured that tons of old people hid their safes behind pictures, but he wasn't surprised to find nothing other than slightly discolored wallpaper.

"Anything that may carry their genetic code." Bobby replied from the other side of the room.

"Gross." Sam muttered, putting the painting back up.

"Like a hairbrush or a cup, or anything they may have touched." bobby continued, ignoring him. He was tapping the floor boards, looking for any hollow sounds to indicate there was storage underneath. Nothing. Bobby frowned and looked back up. "Does this place have a basement?"

"No, no basements in Florida. Which I find ridiculous but of course dad didn't listen to me when he was picking a place to live. We could have gone to California where I would be knee deep in beautiful babes but no, he picked lousy Middleburg to live in and now I'm knee deep in ghost and this is stupid!" Sam shouted, flinging a box across the room. It hit the wall and burst open, books scattering around the room.

Bobby stared at the boy and frowned. His attitude was understandable, but not helping in the least. Before he could comment though, Someone else walked into the room. A little boy about Deans age, with messy black hair who was rubbing his eyes like he just woke up.

"Castiel?" Sam asked in surprise. "What are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep anymore." The kid said with a yawn. "They know what you're up to and -yawn- woke me. Where's Dean."

"Checking the attic." Sam replied carefully.

The boy's eyes opened wide, all traces of sleepiness gone. "You let him go somewhere alone?" Castiel shout furiously. "The ghosts are here! Do you know what they'll do if-" He was interrupted by a scream from somewhere above them.

"Dean!" Sam and Castiel yelled simultaneously. Bobby followed them into the hall and felt something hit him in the back. He and the gun he had retrieved from his car went sprawling across the floor.

Towering above him was a pale woman, her white dress looked like shredded rags, and her eyes were hollow. She opened her mouth in a silent scream and raised her arms. Before she could do anything else a iron wrench tore through her figure and she faded. Sam stood over Bobby, holding the wrench and looking around for the ghost, waiting for her to reappear any second.

"Keep moving boy!" Bobby shouted, scrambling madly for his gun. "I'll take care of the one down here, you go and save your brother!" Bobby didn't have time to worry about the Castiel kid, he had a ghost to kill. "Come out you son of a bitch." He taunted. And this was supposed to be an easy job.

Sam raced for the open attic, Castiel at his heels. "Why don't you teleport or whatever you do?" He asked the angel in training.

"I have just been keeping a barrier for the past few days." Castiel panted, he was already tired by their short sprint. "I'm drained. Couldn't teleport a fly."

"Some guardian you turned out to be." Sam spat before looking forward and running headlong into the ladder to the attic. Dean had left the panel and the steps down when he went up. Sam felt blood gush from his nose, which may or may not have broken when he hit the ladder. He out his hand over his nose and looked up.

"Is it just me or is the attic glowing?" Castiel asked, also looking up. There was another scream from just above them.

"Dean!" Sam shouted at the top of his lungs. The room wasn't glowing. It was on fire. "Dean!" Ignoring the blood and the pain he was feeling, Sam made a mad scramble up the ladder. The attic was large and dusty looking with old and new boxes littered through out. Castiel followed him up, and nearly ran into Sam, who was frozen with terror. The fire was running through the center of the room, with Dean trapped on the other side. Smoke billowed out of a broken window, and Sam had to cover his eyes to keep them from burning.

The younger boy was sobbing in a corner, his head tucked away in the crook of his elbow as if that could protect him from the fire. Ever since his mom had died in a house fire, Dean had been terrified of fires. Even a lit match made him uneasy, and now he was trapped in an attic with no way out.

"Dean!" Sam shouted again, unable to move forward. The room was to dry, and anything was likely to light up at the smallest touch.

"Sam?" Dean manged to look up and stare wide eyed at his brother. "Castiel?"

The angel had stepped forward when Sam would not. He didn't show the slightest twinge of fear and he approached the flames. The boys stared in wonder as he simply marched through them. Castiel kept walking until he stood in front Dean, his hands outstretched. "I'm your angel, and I will never let anything hurt you." Castiel said confidently. Dean wasn't sure what to say, but didn't protest when Castiel picked him up, simply opting to bury his face in his friends large coat.

Sam took Dean from the angel's arms once they were back on his side of the attic. Neither of them had been hurt by the flames, but Sam was sure it wouldn't work if the three of them were trapped upstairs for much longer. He carried his younger brother down the stairs and away from the intense heat. He could still feel it though. The fire alarms weren't set up yet, they had to get out of the house.

Sam ran forward, still dripping blood everywhere and clutching his brother lose to his chest when Bobby turned the corner. He looked down at them. "What happened?" He asked. "The ghost suddenly burst into flames and was gone."

"I diff iff-" Dean mumbled.

"What?" Sam asked.

Dean pulled his face from Sam's chest. "I did it! I went upstairs and found a chest of old clothes, but then the old guy showed up and he broke some stuff, I think he broke a light bulb or something and suddenly there was a fire and I got scared." He let the words fall out before he lost them. Dean stared at his brother and put his face back on his short. He didn't want anyone to see him cry.

"The fire must have burnt the old clothes." Bobby realized. "So the ghost are gone!"

There was a loud creak above them, and smoke started billowing down the hallway towards them. "Yes, and our house is one fire." Sam cried. "lets get out of here!"


	6. Chapter 6

Sam lifted his shirt to cover his mouth and clung tightly to his brother. With Bobby urging him on from behind, the three of them made a mad dash for the front door. Sam nearly slipped down the stairs, but managed to keep his footing. He reached for the door handle, but felt the heat on it and jerked his hand back. Before he could react Bobby had waved them aside and kicked the door down.

The fresh air felt good on Sam's skin, and he took a deep breath of it once they were on the front lawn. A large crowd of their neighbors had gathered to watch as the second story went up in flames just as the attic had. Sam heard the distant sound of wailing, and figured that at least one of them had had the common sense to call the fire department.

"Sam?" Dean asked, pushing his hands against his brother's chest. Sam had forgotten he was even holding him.

"What?" Sam asked, setting him down. He was feeling numb now that the adrenaline had worn off. His house was burning down. They had just moved everything in there, and it was all going to be gone before the end of the day. Sam pulled his shirt off and pressed it to his nose to stop the blood that was still dripping down his shirt.

"Where's Cas?" Dean asked. Sam looked around them. The crowds watched, but made no move to help them. Bobby had turned to leave, but he stopped when Dean had spoken. The little angel was no where to be seen.

"He- he must still be in there." Sam realized slowly.

Dean looked thunderstruck. "How could you!" The younger brother screamed violently. "He saved me and you left him behind?"

"I was worried about saving you!" Sam managed to shout back, but his heart wasn't in his words. Dean was right, he had simply forgotten about Castiel. Dean looked at him, and to late Sam saw the gleam in his eyes. "Dean no!" He shout, making a grab for his arm. Dean pushed pat him and straight back into the burning house.

He made a move to follow, but found a hand on his shoulder. Sam looked up in surprise and saw his father staring into the open doorway. John caught the last glimpse of Dean's shirt as he darted into the hallway. "I came home early." He said blankly. "I got the job." Then he let go and was running after his son.

"Stay here!" Bobby yelled at Sam, following John in. Sam stared, not even holding his shirt to his nose anymore. He wasn't particularly religious, but he started praying then.

Dean covered his mouth with his shirt like he had seen Sam do and shouted as loud as he could. "Cas! Castiel!" He listened intently for a reply. Dean could hear the roar of the fire, a crash as one of the upper rooms caved, but no angel. He felt hot, like his insides were cooking inside of him. Dean wondered briefly if his mother hurt this much, but shoved the thought to the back of his mind as forcefully as he could. Castiel was not his mother. He would save him.

Dean pressed further in, down a hallway, peeking into every room for his friend. "Castiel!" He shouted again.

"Dean?" He heard a weak voice from the next room, followed by a cough. The door was already slightly ajar, but Dean shoved it open to enter. It was a spare room, where John had set up his desk. The furniture was all upturned now, and Castiel was laying on his back in the middle of the mess, staring up at the ceiling as blood dripped slowly from his mouth.

"Cas!" Dean shouted, kneeling by his friend's side. "What happened?"

"One of the ghosts was still kicking when you guys were trying to leave. I held her off until she burned up. But I don't feel so good anymore. I don't think I can move." Castiel whispered. "I didn't have to show myself to you to save you from the ghosts." He added suddenly.

"What?" Dean asked. He had been trying to think of a way to move Castiel, and couldn't think of anything.

"I knew you were different the moment I was assigned your case. You were brave, and charming, and I just wanted to meet you. So I did. This is all my fault. I could have gotten rid of the ghosts, but I just wanted to talk to you. I'm sorry I'm such a terrible guardian." Castiel said quickly, the words tumbling from his mouth like he was afraid they would be gone if he didn't say them quick enough. "And now-"

This time Dean cut him off before he could say it. He clamped his hands down on the angel's and picked them up. "I don't care whats going to happen. I'm glad you chose to talk to me." He said fiercely. "And when we get out of here we're going to be great friends, and you're going to be an amazing angel and never leave. Promise?"

Castiel smiled up at him weakly. It would have been charming if he wasn't covered in blood. "I promise I'll protect you from now on, and never leave." He replied as calmly as he could. Castiel started to cough again.

Dean felt a s tear starting to roll down his cheek. He wiped it away with one of his hands, he didn't want Castiel to know how scared he was. Dean was just wondering if they were going to die when the door burst open behind him and John came in.

"Dean!" He shouted, scooping his son up and pulling him close in one fluid motion. Dean let out a surprised chirp when he lost a hold of Castiel's hands, but was otherwise perfectly happy to see his dad. Bobby came in behind them and carefully picked up Castiel.

"Let's get out of here!" Bobby called. His face looked black with soot. John nodded, but it quickly proved to be easier said than done. The hallway was still passable, but the front door was completely obscured by flames. John backtracked into the office, and without hesitating, kicked the window. It splintered, and another well aimed kick shattered it. Little shards of glass littered the ground where John put his feet, but he didn't seem to care to much.

John brought Dean to where the paramedic was waiting. He looked over both the boys at once as they refused to be separated again and told John that they would both be fine after some rest. John allowed himself to relax. He needed to let go of some of his fear, but ever since he had lost Mary...

Sam came to stand by his dad. He had gotten a bandage put on his nose, but it still stung badly. Since Bobby had left for good this time, he figured it would be up to him to explain everything. The fire, and maybe even the ghosts and what Castiel truly was. If he felt his father could handle it that is.

Castiel rested his head against Dean's shoulder. He was never going to let Dean get hurt again.


End file.
